


Tactile

by secretkeeper18



Category: Smosh
Genre: F/M, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Multi, Polysmosh - Freeform, Touch-Starved, could be taken as platonic or romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-15 00:07:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18062798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secretkeeper18/pseuds/secretkeeper18
Summary: “...for the most part my [whole] family were not a very touchy-feely, affectionate family. We’re very much like ‘I’m very proud of you, perhaps I will hug you someday.’”Shayne never considered himself a necessarily touch-starved person. So why was everyone suddenly being incredibly affectionate all of a sudden?Or,Five times Shayne noticed the squad touching him.





	Tactile

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this instead of writing more Hogwarts AU. Whoops.

1\. Courtney

The first thing Shayne noticed about Courtney was that she was the single most friendly human being he had ever met. She took to Shayne faster than anyone he had ever met- including Damien. The best way to describe her was a golden retriever puppy; she wanted to be everyone’s friend and would jump on people when she wanted attention.

This led to the second thing Shayne noticed; just how touchy Courtney was. She grew up in a huge family, he knew, who all shared rooms at one point or another. It made perfect sense, given how much of a people-person she was. She was constantly draping herself around Olivia, or leaning against Noah, or resting her chin on Keith’s shoulder from behind. Shayne, of course, was no exception to this.

Still, it took him by surprise when she suddenly lept onto his back one day when he was walking into the new Smosh office.

“Ah!” Shayne let out a high-pitched scream, jolting in surprise from the sudden weight on his back. He instinctively tried to buck off whoever had decided it was a good idea to jump on him, but paused once he heard the familiar sound of Courtney’s laughter.

“Jeez, Courtney,” Shayne groaned. “You almost made me drop my coffee.”

“You’re almost done with it anyways,” Courtney replied, flippantly. “And I wanted a piggyback ride.”

Shayne rolled his eyes, though Courtney couldn’t see. He straggled over to the garbage can and dropped the mostly empty coffee cup. He straightened his back, hoping Courtney would slide right off. Unfortunately for him, Courtney apparently had the strength of an oversized koala.

“No!” Courtney said, stubbornly. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, her hands clinging onto her own arms to support herself.

Shayne let out another groan. “Come on, Courtney!”

“Take me to the writers’ room,” she demanded.

Shayne grunted, but finally relented. He figured she wouldn’t let go unless he physically threw her off, and Shayne didn’t actually want to hurt her. It wasn’t like Courtney was heavy, anyways, so he just adjusted her so he could support some of her weight with his arms, and walked into the writers’ room. Briefly, Shayne wondered if this was what it was like to have a little sister.

Shayne stopped in the middle of the room. “Okay, we’re here,” he declared.

“Cool,” Courtney said, simply. Instead of getting off, however, she simply rested her head on his shoulder.

“Courtney,” Shayne whined.

“Shayne!” Courtney mocked his voice. She squeezed her arms around him tighter; not tight enough to choke him, but enough to make her presence quite well known, so it was more like an overbearing hug.

“Hey guys.” Damien entered the room with a cup of coffee and a confused look on his face. “Are we giving piggyback rides now? ‘Cuz I call next.”

“Damien!” Courtney yelled, happily, finally releasing Shayne and jumping off his back. As soon as she jumped off, Shayne immediately was aware of the lack of contact. He made an abortive move to pull Courtney back, but stopped himself.

Weird, he thought, furrowing his eyebrows. He snapped back to the present when Courtney cried out, “Your turn!”

She grinned wickedly and jumped onto Damien’s back. He yelped in surprise, stumbling a bit and nearly spilling his coffee before Shayne grabbed his arm and touched Courtney’s back to help stabilize them.

“You good?” Shayne laughed.

“Yeah.” Damien chuckled. He straightened up, not appearing too bothered by Courtney’s weight despite having been practically knocked off his feet a few seconds prior. Satisfied that his friends weren’t going to tip over, Shayne slowly withdrew his arms.

“Hey, guys.” Ian popped his head in the door. “There’s some pizza in the break room if you want some.”

“I’m good, I just ate,” Shayne said, “but thanks.”

“Ooh, I want some!” Courtney‘s face lit up, excited.

“Me too,” Damien agreed.

Courtney wrapped her arms around him tighter. “Onward, my trusty steed!”

Damien laughed and, with Courtney in tow, followed Ian out to the breakroom.

Shayne pulled out his laptop to start working on a script he had started the other day, but his mind was still on Courtney. She was always a touchy sort of a person, having grown up in a close-knit family, while Shayne had grown up with two older brothers and a dad who all liked their personal space. Something itched underneath his skin when Courtney let go, something that urged him to pull her back.

“Alright, let’s get to work on that script!” Ian said, clapping his hands together as he and Courtney entered the room. Shayne let his thoughts disappear for the rest of the meeting, focusing on writing the sketch.

“Hey,” Shayne said, nudging Courtney a bit while everyone was taking a quick break.

“Hm?” Her eyes flickered up from her screen.

Shayne tried not to shift uncomfortably. “If you ever want a piggyback ride... just ask.”

Courtney blinked owlishly for a moment, before her face broke out into a beaming smile. “Aww, thanks Shayne! You don’t mind?”

Shayne shrugged a bit. “No,” he grudgingly admitted. “I don’t.”

* * *

  1. Noah



Shayne didn’t consider Noah an overly affectionate person, but ever since they came back from the Defy-issue, his youngest friend was constantly looking for an excuse to touch someone.

Always something miniscule, hardly noticeable. Shayne didn’t think anyone else even noticed; maybe he was just the only one being weird about it? It wasn’t even that he was uncomfortable with it- far from it. He just couldn’t help but notice everytime Noah would lean against his side when they sat on the couch of the writers’ room, or when their hands would brush when they walked side by side.

Most noticeably, Noah would randomly slide his hand into others’. Nobody commented on it, so Shayne never brought it up, but it had caught his eye the first time Noah had casually slipped his hand into Keith’s when the three were going to grab lunch one day. Keith didn’t even bat an eye, so Shayne didn’t say anything, but that’s when he started noticing Noh doing it more and more often. To Olivia while they were chatting, to Courtney between takes, and mostly to Keith at random points of the day.

The first time Noah did it to Shayne, he noticed it immediately. They were sitting on a bench in a park, watching their friends shooting a scene a few yards away. Both were on call for the rest of the day, but got a break for this one scene. Noah suddenly slid his hand into his, causing Shayne to freeze and tense up a bit. He glanced at Noah in slight surprise. The younger boy hadn’t even taken his eyes off their castmates.

Shayne slowly pulled his focus back to the scene, relaxing his muscles and sinking back into the bench. Noah gave his hand a slight squeeze, causing Shayne’s eyes to flicker back to his friend. He was half smiling, but not giving any other indication that he was aware of Shayne’s attention. Shayne couldn’t help but smile as well, and give Noah’s hand a gentle squeeze back before he refocused on the scene being shot.

It was... nice. It wasn’t the most physical contact, but it was grounding. Noah’s hand was surprisingly soft, and though hand-holding normally came with the usual side effect of sweaty palms in the uncomfortable LA heat, Shayne found he didn’t quite mind so much.

“Alright, that’s a wrap!” Ryan called out a while later. “Shayne, Noah, you’re up.”

Noah stood up first, breaking contact for the first time in a while. Shayne followed in suit and they headed over to the filming crew as they marched across the mostly empty park in the warm afternoon. Falling into step with Noah, Shayne found himself sliding his own hand into Noah’s lacing their fingers together. Noah looked down at him with mild surprise, then smiled warmly. Neither said anything, instead opting to quietly stroll, hands clasped, until the scene forced them apart.

* * *

 

  1. Keith



Shayne was suspicious when Keith started doing it too. Courtney and Noah, Shayne could understand; Keith was a slight surprise.

He probably should’ve noticed a little earlier, if he was being honest, but it wasn’t the weirdest thing in the world for Keith to touch someone’s shoulder while they were talking or to brush shoulders with others when they sat close.

It was when it started becoming more frequent, and only with Shayne, that he began to notice.

Shayne usually sat with his legs crossed or closed, conscientious of people’s personal space. Keith was the complete opposite. If Shayne looked up the definition of “manspreader” in the dictionary, he’d probably find a picture of Keith. He was constantly bumping knees with people he sat next to, or brushing shoulders against them while crowded on a couch when there was plenty of room. Not that Shayne minded too much, it was just that he began to notice when Keith would relax into the sofa and throw his arms around the back and naturally let it fall around Shayne on his right and Noah on his left. Shayne stiffened in surprise, but found it much easier to relax quicker at the sudden contact.

“You good, bro?” Keith cocked an eyebrow at him.

Shayne nodded. “Fine,” he said.

“Anyway, so what I was saying was, I think we should do another Try Not to Laugh,” Keith continued, his arm still not moving off of Shayne’s shoulders.

Olivia, who was squished in the armchair with Courtney, frowned. “Do you think people are getting sick of them?”

“Nah.” Keith waved the hand around Noah’s shoulder. “They love it.”

“I’ll see if we can invite the Valleyfolk,” Ian suggested.

“Oh, yay! Lee and Steve have mentioned wanting to be in another one,” Courtney agreed, smiling softly.

“And Joe would be more than happy to show up,” Keith added. “What do you think, Shayne?”

Shayne blinked, jolting a bit in surprise. He had been so laser focused in on the bit of contact around his shoulders, he had barely been paying any attention to the conversation at hand. “Errr-“ Shayne smiled sheepishly. “Run that by me again?”

They laughed at him good naturedly.

“Get your head in the game, Shayne,” Noah teased.

“Sorry, sorry.” Shayne chuckled. “Bit distracted. What were we saying?”

Shayne found himself seeking out the seat next to Keith during their usual meetings. Everytime, without fail, Keith would wrap his arms around whoever was next to him, continuing conversation without another word. More and more, it became normal, until Shayne hardly bat an eye at it anymore and just sink into the physical contact naturally.

He caught Keith and Courtney making eye contact during one meeting, after Keith had thrown his arms around him again. Courtney flashed a small, proud smile at Keith, before it was smothered and the meeting began. Quickly, the interaction disappeared from Shayne’s mind, allowing Keith’s arm to draw Shayne closer and sinking deeper into Keith’s side.

* * *

 

  1. Olivia



Anyone who knew anything about Olivia knew that she was weird. She was insane. Damien often referred to her as an agent of chaos, and he probably wasn’t that far from the truth.

After Courtney, Noah, and Keith, Shayne maybe should have been a little supicious that something was going on. But it was Olivia, and pretty much anything she did could be written off as typical Olivia behavior.

Shayne might not have picked up on the pattern yet, but he did immediately notice when Olivia’s usual casual touches began to expand into hugs, then cheek kisses, and then longer hugs.

“Alright Olivia, thirty seconds,” Ryan called out, letting the cameras roll for Olivia’s turn to make Shayne laugh.

She walked out from behind the screen and immediately faced Shayne directly, suddenly pulling a funny face and moving her arms around him goofily. He snorted a bit, but managed to keep from spitting any of the water out.

“Come on!” Olivia whined, waving her arms more frantically. Shayne bit down on the inside of his cheek, determined to keep a straight face even as Olivia was half an inch from touching him.

“Try singing!” Courtney shouted from behind the screen.

Shayne managed to hide a wince. Courtney and Damien were singers. Olivia was not.

Her face lit up. “Ooooooh!” she sang, the notes going up and down randomly. Oh god, how much longer did he have to endure-

Suddenly, Olivia leaned in and pecked him on the cheek, withdrawing quickly and suddenly. She practically skipped away, leaving Shayne sputtering and spitting out the water, more from surprise than laughter.

“Disqualified!” He heard Keith shout. “No touching! Kissing counts as touching!”

“What?!” Olivia whined, peeking her head out from behind the screen. “I worked so hard.”

Shayne wheezed, trying to expel the water from his lungs he had accidentally inhaled.

“Great job, Olivia!” Noah cried out, laughing. “You killed Shayne!”

Shayne coughed several times, trying to hide his reddening face with an excuse of laughter and choking.

“Aw, sorry, Shayne!” Olivia emerged from behind the screen and wrapped her arms around him. Shayne hugged back instinctively, mind whirling.

“I’m fine,” he assured her, still reeling from the sudden contact. The kiss had been soft and feathery, but he could still feel its echo on his cheek. Olivia’s arms were still wrapped around him, the contact shocking his system enough to pull his focus back to the present moment.

“Don’t need CPR?” Olivia joked.

Shayne laughed again. “No, no,” he said. “Perfectly fine, now.”

Olivia’s smile widened.

 

* * *

 

  1. Damien



Shayne hated horror.

He avoided horror movies like the plague and he would dread when they had to play horror games for the Damien and Shayne show.

So Damien should know better.

“No no no no,” Shayne chanted to himself, limbs drawn into himself. He was sitting on Damien’s couch, eyes glued to the screen despite the horror that awaited them.

“I don’t like this,” Shayne said, probably for the fifteenth time tonight. “I don’t like this at all.”

“Hey, we made a pact to finish this movie,” Damien said, eyes not leaving the screen.

Shayne inhaled deeply, raising his arms to mess with his hair like he normally did when he got stressed. “I wanted to play Smash, not watch Hereditary again.”

“We can play that after this,” Damien said, just as Ellen’s body is revealed. Shayne screamed, jolting back further into the couch. Damien had barely even flinched.

“You can hold onto me if you want,” Damien joked. Shayne didn’t take it as a joke, immediately wrapping himself around his taller friend. His heart was going a mile a minute, and yet he couldn’t pull his attention from the screen.

He found himself burying his face in the back of Damien’s shoulders, arms wound around him tightly.

“Turn it off turn it off turn it off-“ Shayne begged.

Damien reached for the remote and shut the TV off immediately. Still, Shayne didn’t move.

“Hey.” Damien’s voice was gentle. “You okay, Shayne?”

“Yeah,” Shayne croaked. “Just. Gonna have nightmares for a while.”

“Sorry,” Damien said, apologetically. “I know you hate horror.”

“It’s fine,” Shayne mumbled. “Just. Don’t move, and you’re forgiven.”

Damien laughed a bit. Shayne could feel the vibrations of his chest as he laughed. “Deal.”

They lapsed into silence for a few minutes. Damien had shifted a bit so he couls wrap his arms around Shayne was well. Shayne finally peeked his head out from where he had buried his face into Damien’s shirt.

“Okay, I think I’m good now,” he said, exhaling. Still, he made no move to detach himself, and neither did Damien.

“Sorry,” Damien said again. “I probably should’ve picked a less scary movie.”

“It’s fine,” Shayne repeated. “I almost think you picked it on purpose to make me cuddle with you.” This was a joke, but when Damien didn’t respond, Shayne pulled back a little bit.

“Damien?” he asked, suspiciously.

Damien rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Well...”

Shayne dropped his arms slightly, so their legs were still entwined and they were still mostly touching, but he could see his friend’s clearly guilty face. “You did what?!”

“Well, being fair, here, you have clearly gotten over your aversion to touch,” Damien said.

Shayne sputtered. “I do not have an aversion to touch.”

“Alright, maybe aversion isn’t the right word,” Damien admitted. “But man, you gotta admit, you’re pretty touch starved.”

“I am not!” Shayne scoffed.

“Buddy, you’re wrapped around me like a clingy koala. It’s not a bad thing- it’s like you said, your family’s just not super into the whole touchy-feely thing. Courtney told me about it-“

“Courtney was in on it too?”

“We all were,” Damien admitted.

Shayne stopped, mind reeling. He looked back at the past few weeks, the sudden increase in physical contact his friends had begun initiating. The sudden increase in him comfortably seeking out physical contact.

Shayne deflated.

“We figured we’d ease you into it, just so you were aware that we are all comfortable with physical contact, and that you need only ask,” Damien added. “Sorry for the deceit- we figured you’d resist if we asked you about it?”

“I probably would have,” Shayne admitted. “Thanks for looking out for me, all of you.”

Damien smiled. “Anytime, man.”

“I’m still mad about the movie, though,” Shayne said, halfheartedly glaring at him.

Damien laughed. “What can I do to make it up to you?”

Shayne lifted his chin, pretending to think about it. “Hmmm,” he said, making a huge show of contemplating his options, causing Damien to snicker. Then, without another word, Shayne opened his arms and looked at him expectantly.

Damien beamed, immediately enveloping his friend in a warm hug. Shayne allowed himself to melt into his best friend’s arms, soaking up the physical contact.

“Thanks, again,” Shayne murmured, still curled around Damien.

Damien just tightened his arms, then asked, contemplatively, “So... wanna play Smash?”

Shayne pulled away, reaching for the controller on the coffee table. “You mean, do I want to beat you at Smash?”

Damien’s eyes glinted, and he grinned. “Oh, big words from you, let’s see if you live up to it.”

“You’re on.”


End file.
